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 #16 Re: Newbie with a boot question! Posted 31/07/2010 @ 09:24 |
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christ i'm worried about giving my opinion on here now.
and just for the record i'm not american. |
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| #17 Re: Newbie with a boot question! Posted 31/07/2010 @ 09:26 |
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Hi boardgirl, I hear and understand your frustration, it's not a fair deal & people shouldn't do it, period. The OP is in the UK though and was asking for advice. I think nearly everyone has advised to go to a shop / show and get a human that knows their stuff to help her out  I'd always advise someone to go to a shop as even if you're only updating your boots - same size, same model, but different year - as the fit can be completely different.
In the UK we do have some rights when buying off the web. Distance selling rules apply, so you have 7 days to notify the seeler that you've decided to send an item back for whatever reason - even if it is "I don't like the colour", that's your perogative. You have to cover postage but you'll get a full refund of the original cost - including outbound postage. For a seller to do anything else is totally illegal! Also it's illegal here to not offer the standard manufacturer warranty. Having US & Canadian colleagues at work I know it's not the same on your side of the pond.
Keep up the good work with the local shop  |
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| #18 Re: Newbie with a boot question! Posted 31/07/2010 @ 14:35 |
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QUOTE (Hannabelle - 29/07/2010 @ 11:48) Hi Guys Very much a newcomer to the snow, but have fell in love with it and decided its the hobby for me! I am looking to buy my own boots, hiring i'm afraid just doesn't appeal to me!  and would like a little advice please I'm a size 5.5/6 in normal shoes, when we went to Morzine in Feb this year, we hired boots and i had a pair of Burton (sorry dont know what model) in size 6. They were very uncomfortable as one: i have very flat feet, which i didn't work out to be the cause of the pain in my leg until the 2nd to last day! Two: i have very chubby little legs  I'm not a big girl, 5ft 2 size 10, but like i say wide calves, which is an issue in buying boots for everyday wear. I'm just a bit over whelmed by the whole which make, which size boot senario and would really appreicate any advice or if anyone is in the same situation as me?!! Many thanks  Hannabelle
First off you do not have flat feet. Pain is caused when a foot is too mobile (i.e. excessive pronation) and a truly flat foot is quite stable and super easy to fit. In terms of having large calves, womens boots are made with a lower and wider cuff because most women have lower and larger calves than men. If there is still pain or discomfort then a heel raise can be added or the top of the cuff can be broken, but to be honest most discomfort dissipates as technique improves. When you start riding you tend to stand quite straight which puts pressure on the calf whereas the proper technique of bending the knees allows the calf to breathe as the added pressure on the tongue of the boot allows more room behind the calf.
Did you do dance or gym when you were younger? In order to eliminate pain the foot needs to be stabilized. There are many different ways of doing this but without knowing exactly where the pain is and how it materializes I can't give proper advice on how to fix it.
It terms of sizing you should be wearing your normal size or slightly smaller. When you rented boots that were on the high end of your sizing and used (i.e. packed to sh*t) then the lack of stability would give you a lot of pain (not to mention that womens specific hire boots are pretty much impossible to find). |
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| #19 Re: Newbie with a boot question! Posted 31/07/2010 @ 14:36 |
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QUOTE (boardgirl - 31/07/2010 @ 00:11) I work in a shop and there is NOTHING more annoying than someone coming in, trying on boots for a half hour to an hour, finding a boot that fits them perfectly but asking for the name and size on a card so they can look around. Don't waste my time if you have no intention of buying it from our shop. Of course its cheaper online, no returns, no waranty (usually) and no boot fitting expertise. Of course you're american too as you think this is ok to do. There is a reason most of the smaller shops are going out of business to the big box stores...we can't compete with the amount of product they buy compare to what we do. All we have left to offer is the service we give, but by having that 'use their service buy buy online' attitude you are putting us out of business. We don't mark up prices to make shitloads of money, we do it to survive. Sorry, rant over...lesson being that you need to try on boots before you buy!
Agreed. |
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| #20 Re: Newbie with a boot question! Posted 31/07/2010 @ 19:26 |
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QUOTE (isherwood - 31/07/2010 @ 09:24) christ i'm worried about giving my opinion on here now. and just for the record i'm not american.
Sorry didn't mean to call you american, just that you said you were in america.
There's nothing wrong with sharing an opinion, just be prepared for others to tell you what they think about your opinion. That's what forums are for aren't they? |
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| #21 Re: Newbie with a boot question! Posted 02/08/2010 @ 01:15 |
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Obviously you have to try before you buy, as with boards. So many people exit the sport because they fail to do that simple thing. You're saving no money at all if you buy something which doesn't work: you either have to replace it or quit the sport.
Boots which are comfortable whilst trying them on in London doesn't mean they'll be comfortable or useful to ride. So I would suggest using a shop where you can actually ride the things. At worst you need a shop where you can take them back immediately if they're not perfect: they can tweak them for you until they are right, or in the worst case exchange them. You cannot do this if you buy in the UK and then ride somewhere else. I'm sorry for UK shops, but in my view they're little more use than online for reasons just stated.
You need also to know the difference between sales people and "boot fitters". Sales people may have ridden little (they may even be skiers!) and are paid a commission. Easy to spot if you're an expert, less so for beginners. Take a more experienced buddy with you if possible. Real boot fitters will not rush you, and will guide you to a few suitable products, rather than selling you the most fashionable/expensive stuff. At risk of being ageist, boot fitters will probably be a little older on average than standard shop staff. I would "browse" at several shops before you pick one where you think the fitter knows their job, then go back and arrange for that person to fit you up. If you know people working in a resort, they probably know the right people to buy boots from.
To judge from watching people at lunch or in the bar, most holiday makers have uncomfortable boots. That's absolutely unnecessary.
Last season I talked to a lady who'd owned 31 pairs of boots before she found some which fit her. You need someone to get you to that 31st pair without the time, pain and expense she'd invested. |
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| #22 Re: Newbie with a boot question! Posted 02/08/2010 @ 09:54 |
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Well thank you for such a detailed reply!
However, i really do have flat feet! Its something i have unfortunetly inherited from my father. The pain i had was in my shins, mostly down the inside, not my calves, i don't know if this makes any difference??  All i can say is when i stuffed cotton wool in my socks in the arches of my feet, it helped ease the discomfort! I did do gymnastics when i was younger, much younger tho, i stopped when i was about 12/13 (i'm now 22).
I do intend to take the vast majorities advice and just try on as many pairs of boots as i can, and if i found a pair in a shop that someone had taken the time to find, explain and adjust for me then yes, i would buy them there and then, not find them elsewhere cheaper, like others say you are paying for the service in the shop!
Thanks again for all the replies guys, and sorry but my intention wasn't to start a debate about to buy from a shop or buy from the internet, i was just after some advice from some experienced riders as i'm so new to it all! |
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| #23 Re: Newbie with a boot question! Posted 02/08/2010 @ 10:09 |
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Don't worry about starting a debate, it happens all the time. Pop along to Revolutionz in Norwich I'm sure they'll be able to sort you out. |
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| #24 Re: Newbie with a boot question! Posted 02/08/2010 @ 13:44 |
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QUOTE (Hannabelle - 02/08/2010 @ 09:54) Well thank you for such a detailed reply! However, i really do have flat feet! Its something i have unfortunetly inherited from my father. The pain i had was in my shins, mostly down the inside, not my calves, i don't know if this makes any difference?? All i can say is when i stuffed cotton wool in my socks in the arches of my feet, it helped ease the discomfort! I did do gymnastics when i was younger, much younger tho, i stopped when i was about 12/13 (i'm now 22). I do intend to take the vast majorities advice and just try on as many pairs of boots as i can, and if i found a pair in a shop that someone had taken the time to find, explain and adjust for me then yes, i would buy them there and then, not find them elsewhere cheaper, like others say you are paying for the service in the shop! Thanks again for all the replies guys, and sorry but my intention wasn't to start a debate about to buy from a shop or buy from the internet, i was just after some advice from some experienced riders as i'm so new to it all!
You don't have flat feet, you just confirmed it when you you said that supporting the arch with cotton wool eased the pain. If your feet were truly flat then padding the arch would cause your foot to supinate causing even more problems. Gym would have collapsed your arches and rendered your feet too mobile, thus the need for additional support.
If you're getting shin splints then they are usually caused by a shortened achilles. There can be many reasons for this but the most common is that you wear high heels. If this is the case then you need to see a physio for an exercise and stretching regime. If the pain is more pressure oriented then it's due to hyper-mobility of the foot.
The boots aren't going to make a huge difference as a good fitter can make most boots fit comfortably. You need proper footbeds and lessons. |
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| #25 Re: Newbie with a boot question! Posted 02/08/2010 @ 15:15 |
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QUOTE (Grill - 02/08/2010 @ 13:44) You don't have flat feet, you just confirmed it when you you said that supporting the arch with cotton wool eased the pain. If your feet were truly flat then padding the arch would cause your foot to supinate causing even more problems. Gym would have collapsed your arches and rendered your feet too mobile, thus the need for additional support. If you're getting shin splints then they are usually caused by a shortened achilles. There can be many reasons for this but the most common is that you wear high heels. If this is the case then you need to see a physio for an exercise and stretching regime. If the pain is more pressure oriented then it's due to hyper-mobility of the foot. The boots aren't going to make a huge difference as a good fitter can make most boots fit comfortably. You need proper footbeds and lessons.
I don't understand half what Grill said but I can second that if adding support under your foot arches helped you then you don't have flat feet. My other half does have flat feet and tried adding arch support (superfeet) into his snowboarding boots once on advice (that we now know turned out to be bad) which absolutely killed him within one run on the mountain and rendered him unable to snowboard for the rest of the day and feeling it for a couple of days afterwards. Needless to say Superfeet went in the bin.
Sounds like properly fitted boots and a bit more snowboard technique coaching will solve your problems |
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| #26 Re: Newbie with a boot question! Posted 02/08/2010 @ 17:57 |
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Ah, so it would appear that i have been confused/incorrectly informed in the past, and i infact have collapsed arches, NOT flat feet. Well at least i've learnt something! and yes i was a lover of high heels up until the age of about 19 when walking to the bus stop for college of a morning put an end to that! |
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| #27 Re: Newbie with a boot question! Posted 03/08/2010 @ 02:01 |
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QUOTE (Hannabelle - 02/08/2010 @ 17:57) and yes i was a lover of high heels up until the age of about 19 when walking to the bus stop for college of a morning put an end to that!
i hear you girlfriend......exactly the same thing happened to me...
Andy  |
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I do NOT fear Death - I fear not living..........er.........and small people with very large hands!
www.bushidokaikarate.webs.com |
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| #28 Re: Newbie with a boot question! Posted 03/08/2010 @ 03:46 |
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You know Andy, thinking about the position of the foot whilst kicking I can see how someone quite active with martial arts could have the same problem. |
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| #29 Re: Newbie with a boot question! Posted 03/08/2010 @ 09:40 |
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Grill, trouble sleeping? Thinking of Andy at 4 in the morning is a little odd 
I used to do a lot of gymnastics when I was younger too, and I don't have a problem with my feet. Maybe I'm lucky?? I also wear high heels a lot, but I do alternate 1 week heels with 1 week flats so my calves / tendons / whatever don't shrink up. |
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| #30 Re: Newbie with a boot question! Posted 04/08/2010 @ 02:44 |
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QUOTE (Grill - 03/08/2010 @ 03:46) You know Andy, thinking about the position of the foot whilst kicking I can see how someone quite active with martial arts could have the same problem.
haha your right there mate, i have used this many times over the years to describe the correct foot postiton when kicking, the old "Imagine your wearing a stiletto" line... but being me it was a failed attempt at humour about me also having the same problem due to me wearing stilettos 
Andy |
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I do NOT fear Death - I fear not living..........er.........and small people with very large hands!
www.bushidokaikarate.webs.com |
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